interview title: Music Catcher

REBECCA
WALLWORK: You worked with some great producers on this record--the Neptunes,
Timbaland--but you co-wrote every track. I get the sense that you were the one
in the studio waving the wand.
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE: Yeah. To make an album, it takes both those personalities:
somebody who's dictating what they definitely want and somebody to be the coach,
who can sit on the sidelines and say, "Yeah, I think that's it." But
I don't want to cash in on the fact that I got to work with the hottest producers.
I think that music is an experience, and people should experience it on their
own. You know, if I had gotten so hyped up about the second Coldplay album, I
probably wouldn't have liked it as much as I do.

RW: So it was a discovery for you?
JT: Yeah! And, man, Parachutes, the first one, knocked me off my feet too.

RW: Do you find it inspiring or daunting when you hear such good stuff from
other people?
JT: Oh, it's completely inspiring. I'm a mutt as far as music is concerned,
because I listen to everything. I think Jive should hire me as A&R.

RW: Now, if you become a huge solo star in your own right, can we expect to
see a Justin Timberlake empire? Would you have own sweats, or maybe a fragrance,
like J.Lo?
JT: [laughs] I don't know. I think my style is kind of a cross between a skater
hippie and an R&B singer. If there were something that I was going to endorse,
it would probably be something like sneakers. Something that would be me.

RW: You could make porn, like Snoop.
JT: No, I don't think that would work! [both laugh] But thanks for the suggestion.
I'll think about it!

RW: A lot of people say that Justin [Guarini] from American Idol is a dead
ringer for you. Have you met him?
JT: No. But I met Kelly Clarkson the other day. I hope something incredible
comes out of it for these kids, but I think there's something satanic about
that show, as if they're herding them like cattle: "You will sing what
we tell you to sing."

RW: So even though 'N Sync got a similar start, you wouldn't recommend it?
JT: Oh, hell no. Hell to the no. We went through all that bullshit with [boy
band impresario] Lou Pearlman. We've been in that situation where you're
just so happy to be doing what you love to do that you get taken advantage
of.

RW: What do you think it was about 'N Sync--and yourself--that ensured you
would still be around five years later?
JT: I just think that everything we did was genuine. When we first got into
this, obviously I wasn't a songwriter. But I knew that I wanted to learn it.
I didn't let anybody tell me that I couldn't. And now, I think I gave myself
[on the record].

RW: What did you get out of it personally?
JT: Well, I was dealing with so many things in my personal life at the time.
Making this was almost like therapy. You know, I have a little anxiety about
doing this on my own, a little bit of a broken heart. Half of this album
is autobiographical and the other half is a fantasy.

RW: So was there any trepidation in putting something personal out there?
JT: No. When I'm in the studio, there are no boundaries. You know, when you're
writing the song, it's about what goes from the first bar to the last. It's
not about "Oh, am I going to hurt somebody's feelings?" Right there
you've killed the whole thing that's special about writing.

RW: One last question. Everyone's still talking about the biggest couple in
pop--
JT:--Who's that? Who's the biggest couple in pop? I have no idea who you're
talking about.

RW: Well, I was trying a new spin on it.
JT: Yeah, but if I say something to you about any of it, and you write it,
then everyone is going to hold you to that. That's crazy. Gossip is called
gossip because it's not always the truth.